The Concept of Comfort
by Ai Tennshi
Summary: What really happened between Zuko and Sokka at the Boiling Rock? Slight crack.


**The Concept of "Comfort"**

"So..." Zuko began awkwardly, shooting a nervous glance at his companion. But Sokka didn't respond. "Erm...it'll be okay?"

The statement may have been more convincing if Zuko hadn't sounded so feeble. Or if he hadn't turned 'statement' into 'question.' As it was, Sokka's silence continued.

"This isn't going to help anyone." Still no response.

"You know," Zuko tried again, "Sometimes people are better off in a crisis than you expect." He waited expectantly for a few moments; but he was not particularly surprised when Sokka failed to respond again.

Zuko hesitated a moment. To continue, or to keep his silence? After a moment's debate, the ex-prince decided that whatever else it may be, talk would certainly be better than the awkwardness that was sure to come with silence.

"My uncle was in a prison near the Fire Nation Palace for a while, you know. It was back when I was...confused..." Zuko hesitated a moment. Was this really something he wanted to confide in the water tribe boy? One glance at the boy's desolate, helpless demeanor as he grieved the absence of his father after all that he had gone through to get this far told Zuko that yes, if it got him to open up again, it would be worth it. "I wasn't as sure of things as I thought I should be, and I didn't understand why I was so unhappy. So I used to visit him in secret. Well, relatively secret...I mean, there was the guard that I had to threaten to keep quiet...and then Azula found out... But that's not the point! See, the point is that I used to visit him in prison—and I thought he was totally helpless. He wouldn't even talk to me at first, and then after a while he talked to me, just once, to explain to me about my heritage... And all the while, the prison guards talked about how Uncle was going insane—about how he'd eat straight off the floor like an animal, sit around clapping and singing like he'd lost his mind, and overall was just a crazy old man. I figured that he really was going insane, being locked up like that for so long, and when I finally faced my father and decided to leave to join you guys, I went to the prison to break Uncle out of there and bring him with me. Only, when I got there, the bars on his cell were bent, and he was gone. The guard said he's escaped—that he was like a one-man army. So...I guess my point is that things might not be as bad as you imagine. Maybe your father's better off than you think he is."

Zuko looked expectantly at the boy sitting next to him. Sokka, however, continued to sulk in silence.

What else could he do? Zuko looked helplessly at his new friend. He had tried reasoning. He had tried an encouraging story. What else could he do? Maybe a shock...

"Look, it's Appa!" Nothing. "Momo's with him!" Still nothing. "They're both dressed up in frilly pink robes." Nothing at all. "And they're kissing." Sokka twitched.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. At least that was a response.

But when he tried calling Sokka's name again, the other boy was back to no response. Zuko sighed. What could he do? The only thing that had gotten a response out of Sokka so far was the mention of Appa and Momo kissing.

Hm... Kissing, huh?

Before he had time to think about what he was doing, Zuko was walking over to the water tribe boy. Lifting his chin, Zuko barely registered the fractional widening of Sokka's eyes before their lips were pressed together.

Zuko regained conscious thought when Sokka began to respond, pressing his lips against Zuko's as well. His eyes widened. But...this wasn't so bad. Sokka was actually a better kisser than Mai, he reflected as Sokka shifted to get slight change of angle.

The two boys were snapped back into reality and shoved each other away when one of them—neither dared to even _think_ of who it had been—let out a moan. Not just a hum of appreciation; no, it had been a loud, clear _moan_. Not manly. Not manly at all.

Zuko and Sokka stared at each other for a moment. Feeling his face beginning to heat up, Zuko cleared his throat and turned away.

"What would Uncle say? Clouds have two sides; a dark and a light, and a silver lining in between..."

Glancing back at Sokka, Zuko was relieved to see that the other boy seemed perfectly willing to go with the unspoken agreement never to mention that little incident again.


End file.
